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It is rather self-indulgent to spend all weekend on genealogy, at the expense of everything else, but I think I deserve it (even if no-one else does).

This coming Saturday will see me visiting the West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) and the library at Chichester, West Sussex, then on Sunday I plan to visit Worthing, West Sussex, and the South Coast Family History Fair at the Pavilion Theatre. So this weekend has been officially designated a family history weekend, in our home at least.

Sunday needs no planning as such, other than making sure I have enough money to spend and deciding if there are any books or CDs that I couldn’t possibly live without. There are sure to be some postcard dealers there as well, so I am sure I won’t come away empty handed.

Saturday is a different matter. Chichester library is simple enough (and should be quite quick), check the microfilm of the local papers for January 1951. The WSRO however needs some more thought and planning. I have a to-do list which probably has enough entries for the WSRO for several visits, so I need to decide where my focus should be directed this time.

A large part of my time will probably be spent trying to find out more about the Sussex part of William Henry and Harriet MITCHELL’s travels. I shall be check for school admission records for their children for starters and then likely burial places for William Henry and Harriet themselves.

I need to try and find out more about Thomas GASSON (3x great grandfather) who appears to have ended his days in the Cuckfield Union Workhouse. I want to see if there is any record of him there, and where he was buried.

After that it is probably a case of picking out the quickest and easiest items from my to-do list, and anywhere there are multiple items for the same document. There is probably nothing more I can add to either of my Thomas KINGHORN projects at WSRO, but you never know.

I have been very good this month and so far I have stuck to my promise to only make one archive trip per month, I didn’t even pop into the Brighton History Centre last weekend despite the temptation being very strong.

My long suffering wife does get a look in. She is going to come along with me to Worthing on Sunday and do some shopping in town, a small price to pay for a whole weekend of genealogy!